Natalia Fajardo stands in the office of Migrant Justice at the Vermont Workers Center. Interns, researchers, and community organizers share one large office. / John Herrick, for the Free Press

Written by

John Herrick

Free Press Staff Writer

Natalia Fajardo, community organizer at Migrant Justice in Burlington, is not an advocate. Her purpose is to enable Vermont's migrant workers to solve problems themselves.

“The magic of Migrant Justice is getting people together,” Fajardo said. “All you need is an open space for them to communicate.”

Fajardo is often labeled as a teacher. She informs workers of their rights and teaches them leadership skills and technological literacy.

She explains to workers the underlying causes of their circumstances.

The organization partners with other national research firms, such as the National Economic and Social Right Initiative, to better understand the issues of immigration.

“All these issues are tied to specific systems that people understand,” she said. “It’s about changing the systems that oppress us.”

Fajardo said she learns more than she teaches from the experiences of the workers.

“The exchange of knowledge is totally two-way,” she said. “They have experience. They are the ones who had to cross the border. I show them beyond the scope of what they see, but they show me what it feels like.”

Fajardo said that many immigrants spend weeks crossing the border.

They traverse the hot, dry and thorny desert by foot, hungry, exhausted, restless and uncertain.

“You hear about the sense of hopelessness. You have invested so much and you’re so close, but you could die,” she said. “You just have to close your eyes and keep going.”

Fajardo came to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from Bogota, Colombia after her mother lost her job in the construction industry. She then moved to Vermont and worked as a wedding planner and baby-sitter before attending the University of Vermont.

She began engaging migrant workers after her Argentinean friend was deported. She received a phone call from a pastor in St. Albans who said that her friend was sent to Connecticut after a farm raid. He was detained for three months and then deported back home.

One goal of the organization is to enable workers to manage problems themselves. Without the assistance of Migrant Justice, workers often raise money to pay the $5,000 bond required to release their friends from detention.

(Page 2 of 2)

“They do it because it is their family. Family to Latinos is everything,” Fajardo said. “It’s not just networks, it’s family.”

She frequently travels to Addison or Franklin Counties to meet with workers and organize activities. These activities are to practice responding to troubling situations, such as a farm raid or the detention of a friend or family member.

“It’s so they learn and then act,” she said.

Last December, 35 farmworkers appeared at the State House to push the Drivers License Study Committee to vote to allow undocumented residents the possibility to obtain a driver’s license and identification card. The committee recommended a law by an 8-to-1 vote.

The proceeding was also an opportunity for workers to meet their representatives and neighbors alike. Fajardo said that this was significant for workers who may fear exposure.

The workers gave testimony to the House Chamber that detailed their daily experiences as migrant workers. Fajardo said that these stories were influential.

“People started getting it,” she said. “They are just looking for dignity. It’s working.”

Fajardo said that New Mexico, Washington, Illinois and Utah allow undocumented residents to drive because it is practical for the safety of the public and the health and well being of the workers.

The initiative to provide access to a driver’s license began after a worker told Fajardo that they needed to drive. These conversations set the organization’s priorities.

In the past, she struggled to organize migrant workers who often live isolated and busy lives. Now workers are contacting her.

“Workers are calling me,” she said. “It’s an organizers dream. It’s just beautiful.”

Fajardo does not view her job as selfless. She is privileged to work at an organization that is committed to human rights and provides her with a learning experience.

“I am working toward my happiness. I think I am doing good stuff, not for others but with others,” she said. “We are not doing this to feel better at night about ourselves. We do it because it is about our survival.”